Scary Scene at U17s as Top NHL Draft Prospect Stretchered Off and Hospitalized After Terrifiying Injury
2026 NHL draft eligible forward Jayden Plouffe suffered a terrifying injury tonight after he went into the boards awkwardly.
The play occurred during the U17 world championships. This is a tournament that takes place every year where Canada actually fields two teams due to their unfair advantage over other countries in terms of total number of young players in the system.
Plouffe was playing for Canada team white tonight as they faced off against Sweden, earning a 6-3 victory. However, the win not be the top thing on the minds of the players and coaches tonight as forward Jayden Plouffe left the game early with an unexpected trip to the hospital.
According to NHL draft analyst Steven Ellis, Plouffe was attempting to make a hit on Sweden's Marcus Nordmark when he hit the end boards in an unexpected manner, putting himself in a vulnerable position.
After several minutes where he was motionless on the ice, he was helped off by medical professionals on a stretcher, the worst possible outcome in any hockey game.
Luckily, Canada's team white head coach Mathieu Turcotte was able to update us on his status after the game, revealing that he is okay and may even return to his teammates as soon as tonight.
That being said, he also confirmed that Plouffe will not be playing in the remainder of the tournament as a precaution.
This makes perfect sense as the health and safety of the players is always a top priority, but even more so when the players involved are minors. If we could ask Plouffe himself, he might even say that he is good to go for the next game and he certainly wants to be out there.
However, sometimes a more mature and reasonable voice needs to step in to take control of the situation. If Plouffe were to go again for the next game and heaven forbid he had another similar incident, this time is could do very serious damage due to repeated impacts which often have a cumulative effect on the body.
Be sure to keep an eye out on the tournament though as we could get another update from the team regarding his status moving forward, especially as he returns back to his QMJHL club where he is expected to complete the season.
